Venice Pictures

So I shouldn't be posting this right now.

I have to study for tomorrow's final, and still have a few pages left on my team's project.

But I feel bad because those of you who read this are being left in the dark. We are going to the base on Friday, and then Verona on Saturday.

Oh, what have we done:

Venice is absolutely gorgeous.

Ciao,

Chels

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First off, let me apologize for not keeping this better updated! These classes are proving to be more difficult than I thought!

So two days ago, a group of us went to Pordenone to look around and get used to riding the train. We had some bike malfunctions on the way to Casarsa (where we catch the train), so it made our adventure hilarious. One of my favorite things was I found a "Gnomo" sticker on a lightpost!

Yesterday we started our second class; we were split up into groups of three and have to come up with a 30pg paper due by next Thursday at 3:30PM. So I am going to be pretty busy! This weekend I will try and upload pictures, because we have a trip to Venice!

Ciao,

Chels.

(ps, if you right click on the picture and select view in another tab or window, you will be able to see the whole thing!)

First Final: DONE!

WOW! I just finished my first class here at SBI! It feels so good to be done with the four papers, and a final exam! It was a good class, and a difficult test, but I think I did pretty well!

Tomorrow is our day off, to rest, but there is no way we are resting!! A few of us are going to Pordenone for the afternoon!!

Here is a picture of the students and our dean!

From L to R:

Bailey (ESL instructor), Bethany, Abigail (assistant chef), Ashley, Anna, Dana, Samuel (our dean), Bryson, and Me!

More pictures soon!

Ciao,

Chels.

papers, papers, papers!!

PHEW! I have finished two of the four papers that were due this week! The other ones I need to work on are due on Monday, and our final is also Monday. The class is awesome though, and I am so happy that I came here!

Today we went to Spilimbergo (sounds like "Speel-eem-bargo" kinda German, huh?) for gelato and too look around. It was very cloudy and started storming when we shut the doors of the van, so the pictures I took I will have to brighten up a bit! We went into a great church too, built in the 1300's and still had original frescos!

It's amazing how much history is here in Italy. Everything is so old, yet so so beautiful because of the stories they can tell. I am really enjoying myself here (even if there are a lot of work!) and can't wait for Saturday! We are going to the Mall in Udine and then to Friuli Doc festival in downtown Udine! I will post pictures soon!

Ciao,

Chels.

Monday, First Day of class.

Today we started our first day of class. This week (Mon-Fri, and next Mon) is evangelism class. So far it is really interesting, Sam Spatola (founder of SBI) is the professor, and I love the way he teaches. I am not sure how many times I will be able to update this week because we have a lot of papers due. A two page, four page, eight page, and another paper due all this week! Our final is next Monday. I really like how it is set up though because we can really focus on this one subject.

We also have Italian 101, and today we learned the alphabet and some pronunciation.

Right now it's the Reposo, which means rest. Where we are at in Italy, everyone participates in this. From the hours of 1-3:30 pm, everyone goes home to rest! No stores are open! Restaurants are though. Usually people will take naps, but I won't until my internal clock gets used to this time zone. Even though I am not tired during the day, I don't want to take a nap so that I can sleep at night. Our classes resume at 3:30.

Ok, pictures anyone?

The View from my bedroom. That is the classroom and dining hall building.

Macchiato and Croissant!

There are a few pics for you, I will upload more later when I have time too!

Ciao,

Chels

Italia!

Hello one and all!

I MADE IT TO ITALY!!

I got to the school about midnight local time, which was about 6PM back home... I was so tired, and I don't think I will have a problem with jetlag!

Today we went to Casarsa which is a small town near the school. We learned how to buy train tickets, groceries, stamps, and toiletries. Tonight we go to a medieval festival! I will have pictures of the school and festival up hopefully tomorrow, or later tonight. Tomorrow we go to Udine, which is one of the larger cities near us. We have a VERY full schedule the whole time here! Monday we start classes, we have morning classes and "afternoon" classes which are from 3:30-6:30.

It's so beautiful here.

I will update more soon!

Ciao!

Chels

In Amsterdam!

Well I made it to Amsterdam!

The flight from Raleigh to Detroit was horrible, I sat right next to the engine and it was SOOO loud! The flight from Detroit to Amsterdam was really awesome though! A much roomier plane, and I sat next to a very nice man who shared my love of tea (he was from England).

I got to Amsterdam about 02:45 EST time, and I didn't really sleep on the plane. Needless to say, I am SUPER tired! I got to talk with my family, which was nice! I will have more updates later, now it's just waiting to get to Italy!

About to go check into a room to get some sleep!

Ciao!

Chels